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The Powerful People With The Most Staying Power

President Barack Obama talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao at the G-20 summit in 2009.

Power is fleeting. So it’s especially remarkable that some people manage to hold onto so much of it for so long.

On December 5th, the editors of Forbes Magazine will publish our fourth annual ranking of the World’s Most Powerful People. Each year we spend months calculating the different ways people possess power, analyzing the news to determine who had the biggest influence, and trying to predict the issues that will define the year ahead. We’re often surprised to see who really shapes the world and shows real power. And some people surprise us by showing up again and again.

Forty-two people have appeared on every iteration of the World’s Most Powerful People since its initial publication in 2009. They represent a broad swath of the rich and powerful: Heads of state, business and religious leaders, billionaires, and even criminals.

President Barack Obama is foremost among these paragons of power. He ranked #1 on the first edition of the list, and even after his Democrats suffered a big blow in the 2010 U.S. midterm elections, he only dipped to #2. Last year he was back on top again, showing that U.S. remains, indisputably, the most powerful nation in the world. After a resounding defeat of Republican challenger Mitt Romney, he’s a strong candidate to lead the list again.

Chinese President Hu Jintao lept into first place when Obama’s fortunes turned in 2010; he’s never ranked below #3. As the paramount political leader of 1.3 billion people and the world’s second-largest economy, Hu’s enjoyed largely unchecked power. But last week he stepped down from his role as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China. Will his successor, Xi Jinping, have the same influence and power? Only time will tell.

Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, has never dropped out of our top ten. Gates enjoys power through both his immense riches ($66 billion, as of September 2012) and his role as the world’s leading philanthropist. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is an unusually powerful force for good in the world –saving lives and influencing social policy.

Heads of state and CEOs might account for a majority of the repeat spots on the World’s Most Powerful People, but there are some notable exceptions. Pope Benedict XVI is the spiritual leader of 1.2 billion Catholics around the world –one-sixth of the world’s population– and has never ranked lower than #11. And for every angel there’s a devil: Joaquin Guzman Loera, the leader of the illegal drug smuggling Sinaloa cartel, has consistently ranked between #40 and #60.

Here’s a look at the 42 three-time members of the World’s Most Powerful People:

Click to expand.

There’s a good chance that many of these three-peaters will appear on the new edition of the World’s Most Powerful People, when it’s published on December 5th. But we already know one person who won’t be returning: Kim Jong-il, the Supreme Leader of North Korea, who died in December 2011, after last year’s list was published. Kim maintained absolute power in his ­country, dominating 25 million citizens. Now his son, Kim Jong-un, has taken up the reigns of leadership. But you’ll have to wait until December 5 to see if he makes the list.

Until then, why don’t you tell us you who think are the most powerful people in the world? Share your opinion in the comments at the bottom of this story.

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